Cabin Fever
by stranded-on-an-island
Summary: Two weeks into Hal's detox, the trio is faced with secrets floating around and an unexpected visit. Things take a bizarre turn when they all become trapped inside the house under supernatural circumstances. Alex, Tom, and Hal attempt to keep their visitor blind to all the strange occurrences taking place around them, while also coping with each other.
1. Chapter 1

(The idea behind this was imagining what it would be like if BH had a "bottle episode" - one designed to take up as little money as possible, using the minimum amount of characters and locations. Here's hoping I can pull it off.)

* * *

Alex felt like silence had fallen as she flipped over the decision in her head. Surely she couldn't back down now, not when she was so close. She had already lost once before, and now it was her time for redemption. There was only one thing left to do.

Risk it all.

She took a breath and then revealed her hand.

And promptly lost.

"Christ, this is just loony" she said, letting her cards fall on the table. "How's it possible for someone to be this good at poker when their hands are literally tied up?"

"I guess Hal's just luckier than you" Tom said from next to Hal's chair, where he had taken up the role of handling the cards.

"Well I certainly don't feel so lucky right at this particular moment" Hal chimed in. He was doing his best to keep his fingers from fidgeting too much on the armrest.

"It still wouldn't kill ya to cheer up a little" Alex said. "I mean you've won twice already. And you've made it well past your second week of detoxing with only a few incidents of raging, shouting and crying."

Tom looked sheepish. "Sorry about the tears."

"It's alright" Alex said, waving it off. "Besides, none of this will matter anymore in a couple of days, I'll bet. We're past the worst. Over the hurdle. It's all smooth sailing from here, right?"

Hal quickly shifted his gaze and suddenly looked oddly fixated on the wall behind her.

"This _is _as worse as it's gonna get, right Hal?"

He just kept his eyes on anything but them.

"Christ, don't tell me you're going to shift into some second form and threaten to devour the house."

"I think we'll need a stronger chair for that..." Tom said, wary.

Hal frowned. "No, nothing of that sort. But my outbursts will become more sudden and unexpected. The creature inside me will give everything it has for its last attempt to take over, so my language may become more... expressive."

"_More_ expressive?"

"You'd be surprised" Hal said.

"But you won't be transformin' into anythin' more crackers?" Tom asked.

Hal just shook his head.

"Then relax already" Alex said, suddenly feeling better, "nothing'll happen, so there's no problem."

* * *

"We have a problem" Tony said.

Tom had been so busy tidying up the café by himself that he almost failed to hear his boss coming in. Trying to fill in for Hal was starting to become exhausting.

"What's going on?" Tom asked.

"You know I appreciate all the hard work you do for us, Tom, but your mate Hal might get us into heaps of trouble. He's been missing his shifts for weeks now."

"He's just been sick for a while, is all."

"Well, sick of not, I just thought I should warn you."

Tom frowned. "About what?"

"Well I'm sure you heard about all those teenagers that started going missing some time ago from the school near here, yeah? Well the police found out that most of them used to come over here on their breaks." Tony sighed, his mouth now a tight line. "It's only a matter of time before the media'll go barking mad and start pointing the finger at us."

Tom looked at his boss curious, but didn't say anything. Tony sighed again and leaned in, lowering his voice.

"Listen, you're a nice chap, Tom. But if your mate has any kind of troubles at home that might spill onto us, you better let me know. We run a good establishment here and I want to keep it that way."

"What kind of troubles you mean?"

"You don't have to cover for him, Tom. I've seen him staying at work late just to stack toothpicks, or dust the ceiling. He's crackers, that Hal. Something's not right with him."

"He's a little odd, sir, that's all."

Tony narrowed his eyes, as if finding it hard to believe. "So he's not... _on _anything?"

Tom furrowed his brows, trying to understand what he meant.

"You know" the man said, and then lowered his voice. "... drugs."

Tom found the very idea silly. "Oh, no, Hal would never. He doesn't even eat the pizza we have on Fridays because he says it's not proper food."

"So that's it, then. You sure? No drugs, no drinking or anything that could cause us any trouble?"

"No, sir."

The boss nodded, relieved. "Glad to hear it. Because the police are sending someone over to your house to have a little bit of a chat with you both."

* * *

"Un-fucking-believable..." Alex said under her breath, as she reached for the dice.

Hal angled his head to get a better look at the game board in front of them, causing his restraints to squeak. "This is impressive. You really do have rubbish luck."

"Oh stuff it, I've only lost three-"

"Five."

"-five times." She stopped in her tracks and shook her head. "Christ. A thousand year old dead man has more luck than me."

"Five-hundred isn't _that _old."

"Hal, you're called an Old One. _Old_ is literally in your title" Alex said, a smile appearing on her lips.

"That's not the point" he said, frowning "You make me sound positively ancient."

"You're right, it's not fair to call you old, especially since you've never played Monopoly until today."

"That's because board games weren't exactly at the top of my priority list back in the days of war."

"Well it's alright" she said, her smile still present "I never did expect you to be one for fun anyway."

Hal looked away, annoyed. "I'll have you know we organized plenty of activities to divert ourselves back then."

"Such as?"

"Hanging people from the rafters, for one."

Alex had to fall silent, attempting to figure out if he was joking or not. Which was impossible to tell. Hal's face remained oddly inexpressive.

A sudden ringing tore the two out of their carefree state. Alex found herself freeze on the spot, unsure exactly why she was getting such an ominous feeling creeping up on her. She glanced back at Hal, wanting for his reaction to see if he had felt it too.

But Hal just made a face. "Yes, in other circumstances, I'd do the gentlemanly thing and answer it myself, but since I can't at the moment, could you-?"

"Right" she said, snapping out of it. She went over to the bar and picked up the receiver.

"Alex, it's me" Tom said. "I think we're in a bit of a bind. Tony said the police're sending someone over to the house to talk to Hal an' me about that case that's all over the news. It's supposed to be all routine, but I hear the lady who's coming over is a sharp one."

"Wait, she's coming over _today_?"

"Just after my shift, so I'll need you to tidy up and make everything look normal."

She almost let out a laugh at that. _Normal_. Fat chance of that happening, especially with the Rain Man sitting a few feet from her, tied up to the furnishing.

"Um, wait a second" she said, lowering her voice. "What about Hal?"

Tom paused. "I think we'll have to release 'im."

Alex wondered if she'd heard wrong. "Are you telling me to let him go? Just like that?"

Despite Alex's hushed talking, Hal had no problem catching what they were saying. His face let out an involuntary twitch at the mention of his release.

"We have to" Tom went on "Lady can't just walk in there and see 'im strapped to a chair, she'll think he's bonkers."

"Well _you're_ bonkers if you think I'm just letting him out" she whispered "you've seen how he is, he can still turn mental."

"But you said it yourself" Tom went on "he's over the hurdle, two weeks in. He'll be fine. Besides, even if he ever tried anything, he won't be able to. He's tired and weak, and Annie taught you all those ghosting tricks. You can keep him in line."

Alex mulled it over in her head for a moment or two. Releasing a volatile creature such as Hal sounded fundamentally stupid, but it wasn't like they had any other choice. "Fine. I just hope you're right about all this."

"I'm sure you'll do alright. And I'll be there as soon as I can."

Alex took a deep breath as soon as she hung up. She was going to be fine. She was already dead after all. But then again pain and suffering could easily transcend the physical form.

Alex carefully strode over to Hal, glancing at him. He had a different look about him now, as if he had heard something, or at least guessed what she had talked about on the phone.

"So, that was Tom..." she said, trying to look carefree. "Says there's gonna be this bird coming over in a couple of hours, something about that case with the missing kids or something." Alex cleared her throat. "So we'll kind of have to let you out."

"I... don't think that's a good idea" Hal said. "Not yet."

Alex narrowed her eyes at that. Desperate and dangerous Hal would have eagerly jumped at the very thought of his release. But he was reluctant. Was that supposed to be a trick of some kind? She tried dispelling the thought by shaking her head.

"Look, Tom says we need to clean this place up" she said, moving over to unfasten the restraints "And I'll be dead if I'm the only one to do it." She paused. "Well, dead-er. Besides, we can't let anyone find you strapped to a chair anyways. They'll assume we've all gone mad."

Hal realized his hands were getting even more fidgety than before. "Alex, I'm really not feeling comfortable doing this. Maybe we should-"

"Oh c'mon, it'll be fine. Cleaning up this place will calm you right down, I'm sure of it. Just wait till you see what Tom left in the kitchen sink, you'll have a bloody hard time trying to clean that-" She had to stop unfastening the straps when she reached his left arm. The bindings seemed to have light indentations on them. "Hal, did you try to... chew through these?"

He shot her a dirty look.

"Right. Stupid question..."

After untying him, she helped Hal off the chair. He slowly stretched his back and limbs, trying to readjust to proper movement again.

"So where do we start?" Alex asked, "I figure you have some method you follow for any kind of cleaning situation. Like one where we're trying to look like we normal for the police."

"We should take care of the bar first" Hal said, unable to focus properly, "just give me a minute."

Alex nodded, and then crossed over to the bar, ready to put away the bottles and papers that tended to pile up around. Alex felt a smile creep up on her. It seemed like no matter who it was – whether her brothers or Tom - she always had to clean up after someone. Of course her brothers had a much better CD collection than the one that had been left behind at Honolulu Heights. Alex expected to find the cases thrown about the bar where she had left them the previous night. She usually browsed through them mindlessly on particularly boring nights. But they weren't there anymore.

She turned round and noticed that all the cases were placed back on the shelf behind the bar. All lined up neatly. For a moment she thought Tom had done it, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Tom never even made his bed. Alex was ready to chalk it up to her own bad memory when she spotted several magazines carefully staked on top of each other in a corner. Magazines that had been just thrown about the day before. The more she looked, the more she started noticing other things properly organized that neither her nor Tom would have touched. The labels from the bottles on the top shelf were all facing the same way and all the knick knacks scattered about the bar were aligned.

Something suddenly clicked in Alex's head. The marks on Hal's bindings she had seen earlier. They weren't there because Hal had once been desperate enough to try and chew through.

They had never been able to hold him in the first place. All this time he had been sneaking out. And in order to restrain himself back and look just as they had left him, he needed to use his teeth to fasten the last belt.

All this time he hadn't been detoxing. He'd been pretending. Whenever they were around, he would put on a show, and then just slip out unnoticed the moment their back was turned.

Alex slowly moved towards Hal with even paces. He was still stretching his back and rubbing his head, but stopped when he spotted her.

"Alex, what's wrong?"

She eyed him. "You fucking tosser."

"What did I-?"

"You've been able to get out of your restraints all this time, haven't you?"

Caught by surprise, Hal's mask instantly crumbled. A clear spark of guilt was in his eyes. "Alex, please, I-"

But she couldn't stand to listen to one word. Alex felt all the rage that had been building up, concentrating into her ghostly power, and she let it loose. Hal flew across the room as if struck by a freight train, and his vision grew dim as soon as his back hit the wall.

* * *

He awoke with a dull pain in what felt like most of his muscles. When his vision lost its haze, he realized he on the floor of the bathroom. His instincts immediately ordered him to move, to get out and strike back. But something was holding him in place.

Someone had tied his arms behind him to the radiator. The rope pulled so hard at his skin that his hands were almost numb. Of course. Alex. She wasn't in the bathroom, but Hal felt a presence nearby, just a few feet away. He wanted to shout out that they needed to talk, that whatever she was thinking wasn't true. But there was no point.

She had made her mind up. There was no way she would ever risk trusting him again.

On the other side of the door, Alex was resting her back to the wall and staring in front of her. She shook her head slowly. "I can't believe we've been so fucking stupid..."


	2. Chapter 2

They were supposed to follow through with Tom's plan of tidying up the house, and now she was stuck with a potential murderer tied up in the bathroom. How had things changed so quickly in only a few minutes? Alex still couldn't figure out the answer to that, nor could she tear her eyes off the door in front of her.

She was angry and wanted to just walk in and face him. Say something. But a part of her was scared that if she did, then what she thought might turn out to be true. Staying out there in the hallway meant that Hal's actions still retained some level of uncertainty. As ridiculous as it sounded, maybe he was somehow innocent.

"Alex?" his voice came from beyond the door.

But she said nothing, and remained rooted to her spot.

"Alex, I can tell you're out there."

More silence.

"Look, I don't know what you think I did, but I can promise it's not as bad as you believe."

Alex wanted to laugh at that. "You're making promises right now, Hal?"

He fell silent at that. Alex decided that standing in the hallway like a loon would never solve anything, and she rent-a-ghosted inside the bathroom. The light there felt ominous somehow. Hal looked up at her as soon as she had appeared, but whatever his expression was trying to convey she wasn't sure. He almost looked sorry.

"Tom trusted you" Alex said "he had faith in you, and I did too. So tell me exactly how betraying that isn't as bad as I believe."

Hal glanced away. "For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."

They both knew an apology wouldn't fix anything, but he wanted to say it regardless.

"How many, Hal?" she asked.

"How many what?"

"How many of those teenagers that went missing did you drink?"

Hal's expression turned grave. "What? None! Alex, I haven't hurt any of those people."

"And I might have believed that if you hadn't been sneaking out of the chair every bloody time we turned our backs on you."

"I haven't drank _one_ person since I've started detoxing, I swear."

"So the fact that the police suddenly wants to have a chat with you is what? Just a coincidence?"

Hal sighed. "Maybe it is. I don't know. But I had nothing to do with those missing people, and if I can think of any way to prove it, I'll gladly follow through."

"So I'm supposed to believe that you had a chance to go outside and you didn't go blood-crazy?"

If she hadn't known better, she could have sworn that Hal looked a little bit hurt by her question.

"Alex, you've seen me drunk on blood before" he started. "Now you look at me and tell me if I seem _anything_ like the man you talked to that night."

She realized he had a point. Hal looked nervous and twitchy. He was fidgeting and not at all relaxed or sedated like he had been that night at the bar. She could tell that his fingers were moving around mechanically as they always did when Hal had nothing to do to keep himself occupied.

Maybe Alex was ready to start considering the idea that he hadn't fed on anyone, but that still left one question.

"If you had nothing to do with that case then why have you been lying to us?"

A soft knocking sound came from nearby, causing them both to fall quiet. Alex realized that the ominous feeling she had felt before, during Tom's phone call had crept back up on her again like a mischievous little spider that had been hiding all this time.

"Did you hear that?" Alex asked.

Hal nodded. "Faintly. What was it?"

"I'm not sure. But it felt like someone was in the house for second. And then just... disappeared."

"Do you think it was another ghost?"

Alex shook her head. "It felt different somehow. And why would anyone besides me willingly want to haunt this house?" She looked back outside in the hallway. "I'm gonna go take a look."

Before Hal could even say anything, she had rent-a-ghosted out of the bathroom. A few seconds went by before she was back.

"Whatever it was, it's not there anymore" Alex said. "But it was really creepy, wasn't it? Felt like someone was trying to sneak into the house or something."

"Alex, we still need to talk."

She shook her head. "No time for that now. Tom said that cop'll show up after his shift and I there's still a chair full of restraints and other questionable stuff out there that needs putting away."

Hal frowned. "What about me?"

Alex eyed him for a moment, and then disappeared. When she rent-a-ghosted back, Hal could see she was holding something.

"Here" she said, showing him one of his domino pieces. She placed it behind his back, in his tied up hands. "Thought that'll help you stay calm till I figure out what to do with you."

"But you can't keep me here when the police shows up. They're expecting to talk to me. They'll get suspicions."

"That's why I'll ask Tom what we should do before we do anything."

Panic set in Hal's eyes. "What? No, please don't tell Tom what I've been doing. He can't know. He'll think I've breached his trust!"

Alex looked at him sidelong. "That's because you have. Besides, he deserves to know what's happening. We're all mates." She paused. "Or I thought we were..."

"Listen to me, I'm very sorry about what I've been doing but you can't just-"

But she had already disappeared, leaving him alone.

"Alex, you can't just leave me here! Alex!" He struggled against the rope holding him down, but there was no point. "Dammit..."

* * *

Alex had never really felt all that tired since she had become a ghost, but clearing up half their house had certainly put a damper on her spirit. She was still in the process of putting things away when she heard the front door unlocking.

"Everything alright?" Tom asked, shutting the door behind him.

"I think I tucked all we're supposed to away. Now the place looks less frat house and more like a house-house."

"Looks good" Tom said. "Where's Hal?"

Alex swallowed, nervous. "Erm, right. About him..."

"What's wrong? He didn't attack ya, did he?"

"No, nothing like that. Hal is just... he's..." She sighed. "... in the bathroom."

Alex wished a safe would fall on her head.

"Oh, is he lining up all them blinds individually again?"

She gave a half-nod.

"Well tell 'im to get down here as soon as he's done. That police lady'll be here any minute now."

"Sure, I'll let him know."

When she appeared back in the bathroom, Hal jolted backwards, hitting his head on the radiator.

"Jesus, you've got to stop doing that..." He took a deep breath. "What happened? Where's Tom?"

"I didn't tell him."

Hal's first thought was to ask why, but thought better of it. "Thank you" he mumbled.

"Don't thank me yet. I still haven't decided if I'll eventually tell him or not."

"That won't solve anything" he said, shaking his head. "Trust me."

"I'm finding that harder and harder to do, you know."

A moment of silent past between them.

"I really didn't want to lie to either of you" Hal said "But I just couldn't stand being tied up like that. I had to get out."

"Why?"

He shook his head, realizing it would be hard to try and explain. "Alex, you have no idea what it's like living in my head."

Her gaze softened a bit. "Then tell me."

"A big part of keeping myself in check requires that I follow through with my routines. If I suddenly stop and can't focus on inane tasks anymore then my mind starts wandering. I get thoughts. Fleeting, at first, but then the voice gradually gets louder and it becomes harder and harder to ignore. It tells me to do things, and making it seem like it's a good idea. If you keep me tied here day in and day out, then I'll slowly become trapped inside my head. And I won't be able to get out."

Alex glanced at him, wary.

"I'm not asking you to trust me" he went on "Just please don't force me into the same room with those thoughts again. _Please_."

She wouldn't trust his word, and he knew that. Heck, he had a hard time trusting himself lately. In 500 years of being alive he had relapsed more times than he could remember, and now he was expecting someone he had a hand in killing to believe him. It sounded mental. Which is why Hal couldn't believe it when Alex crouched down and started untying the ropes.

"I still don't totally believe you" she said "but right now we don't exactly have any time for trust falls or anything like that."

As if on cue, they heard the doorbell ring. Alex quickened her disentangling and soon managed to free Hal's hands.

"Tell me something" she said when she was done, "all those times you snuck out into the city... what kept you from attacking someone?"

Hal didn't even need to think about it. "I made a promise to Leo once. That I wouldn't willingly let myself become the man I was when he met me."

"That's a nice promise to make" she said, her gaze softening. "Now c'mon, let's go see who the police sent over here."

Hal nodded and followed her out of the bathroom. He wondered what Leo would have thought of this situation. Maybe he would have been proud of Hal's self-restraint. Maybe he would've frowned upon his insincerity. But one thing he definitely wouldn't have approved of was finding out that Hal had been experiencing blackouts ever since he had learned he could escape his restraints.


	3. Chapter 3

(I don't know why, but I'm just not feeling this chapter. It bugged me all the while I wrote and rewrote it, so I'm sorry if it comes across as average.)

* * *

Hal moved the domino between his fingers as Alex walked beside him into the living room. He was getting panicky over nothing. He had nothing to hide. He couldn't have. True, he was aware of the couple of blackouts he had experienced during the first two days of his escape, but that didn't mean anything. Hal hadn't woken up covered in blood or next to a body, and that meant his other self had been too weak to act on any urges.

He was going to be fine. This whole police business was all just routine. It had to be. But somewhere inside, Hal felt _him _give a chuckle.

Mind games. It was always mind games with his other self.

"There ya are" Tom said, dragging Hal from his thoughts. Hal noticed that next to him there was a woman in her 40s dressed to the nines and holding a briefcase.

"You must be Mr. Yorke" the woman said, extending her hand. "Jodie Keller. I'm here about the missing students case. I'm sure Tony told you about it."

Hal tried to ignore the heartbeat he heard as they shook hands.

"Don't worry" she said, misinterpreting his reaction, "this is all routine, just a few questions and I should be out of your hair." She turned to Tom. "I can start with you, Mr. McNair, if that's okay."

Tom nodded, and the woman told Hal to wait inside the kitchen until they talked. But patience had never been one of Hal's strongest suits. It was easy to eavesdrop on their conversation, but when it became dull listening to Tom talk about his average day at the café, Hal moved over by the window.

"You okay?" Alex asked the moment she rent-a-ghosted in the kitchen.

"I'm fine. All things considered."

He knew she noticed his fingers doing their mechanical movements with the domino. The state of disarray of the kitchen wasn't helping his nerves either.

"So what happened?" Alex asked.

Hal guessed what she meant. "The first night I found out I could escape?

She nodded.

"I was... exhilarated. The moment I unstrapped those restraints all I wished to do was go out into the city and cause mayhem. Just stumble into the first crowd I could see and have my pick without a second thought."

Alex looked at him, grave. "But Leo's memory stopped you."

"I started getting flashes of this night I spoke to him in the dark cellar. When he told me that he believed I could be saved. Even when I doubted it." Hal paused for a moment. "I ended up walking around Barry instead. My first day of freedom and I could have done anything. But I couldn't. Most nights I just sat on the steps in front of the house and tried to clear my head."

"And tidied up" Alex added with a hint of a smile, remembering the hints she had spotted earlier in the day.

"Well it was hard to ignore when the room turned into such a deplorable state." He glanced around the kitchen and the full sink of dishes. He shook his head. "Sometimes, you two simply horrify me."

Alex kept smiling as leaned in to hit his shoulder.

"And what was that for?" he asked, wincing.

"I'm just glad crazy, clean-obsessed, grammar-correcting Hal is back."

Hal shrugged. "I don't recall ever leaving."

"Well, for what it's worth... I'm proud of you" Alex said. "Not about all the sneaking around and all that shite – which you're gonna get a kicking for one day - I mean about the not-drinking and killing anyone part. When I realized you'd been sneaking off I thought for sure you were back on the blood. Glad to see you still kept your promise to Leo."

He nodded. "So am I."

"Mr. Yorke?"

Hal turned round and realized the policewoman had called for him. Now that Tom's part was over, it was his turn to talk. He noticed Alex tagging along as he walked into the living room. He wasn't sure if she was doing it just for her own entertainment or in order to prove to herself that he really was as innocent as he had said.

When he sat down on the couch opposite her, Hal noticed Keller brining out a legal pad and a pen. He wondered where her recorder was. Though considering how infested by supernatural creatures Barry was, the logical conclusion was that recorders of all kinds were easily messed up by all the paranormal activities.

"Alright" she started "so where were you two weeks ago on the 21st of October?"

"I was at home, sick."

"Okay. Now, Tony told me that you've missed work a lot lately."

"I have."

"And why is that?"

Hal's eyes started towards Alex, but all she could do was look just as helpless as him. How could he rationally explain over fourteen days of absence? He had a family emergency. No, he'd need an actual family to back up such a story and that was impossible.

Tick tick tick. Seconds were passing by and all Hal could hear was his façade of innocence slipping away with each moment.

"I ate some rat poison by mistake" Hal blurted out.

"You ate rat poison?" the woman asked, surprised.

"By mistake."

Keller looked confused. Alex just looked mortified. Too late to back out now.

"The box looked just like the cereal one and I mixed them up" Hal added, though his own story was starting to physically make him nauseous.

"Okay, so that's what caused you to miss work? Two weeks in a row?"

"Yes, it... it took a while before I realized what box I was eating out of." He paused. "I have a surprisingly resilient stomach."

Tick tick tick. More seconds passed by as the woman scribbled down something on her legal pad. Hal wondered just how insane she must have thought him to be. He motioned for Alex to take a look at what she was writing, and Alex obliged, walking over to look over the woman's shoulder.

"Yikes" the ghost said, surprised.

Hal glanced at her, worried.

"She's just got chicken-scratch writing. Let's see..." Alex took a closer look. "Well, so far she's verified part of your story with Tom's. And she has no idea what the effects of rat poison are on people, so she's gonna check it out back at the office." Alex shrugged. "You're in the clear so far. Well, as clear as a man who just confessed to eating rat poison."

Hal shot her a look.

"Mr. Yorke" Keller said "you've had a few cases of customers from the "Cafe on the Corner" tell us that they've spotted you staying later than your shift requires. Any particular reason why?"

"I like to leave the café spotless and that usually takes a fair amount of time."

"So you can say you're familiar with the back alley where the bins are?"

Hal nodded, but feeling slightly uneasy. This all felt way too much like she was attempting to trap him. She was going to ask about a body found, he just knew it. But Hal's attention was drawn away by the lamp beside him.

The lights began to flicker. Alex and Keller also noticed because they both raised their heads in recognition. The lights blinked again, this time much more violently.

"What's going on?" Keller asked.

"Must be faulty wiring" Hal said quickly, "the house is rather old."

"Everything alright?" Tom asked as soon as he came from the kitchen.

A bottle shot out from behind the bar and smashed against the wall next to them. Tom and Hal instantly looked at Alex.

She held out her hands. "Don't look at me, I'm not doing anything."

Another bottle flew past them and smashed against the front door this time. As the lights kept going on and off, more and more of the knick knacks behind the bar began to rattle. Keller looked around her, confused.

And as quickly as it had started, it was over.

If it had been any other day at Honolulu Heights, the trio wouldn't have had much of a problem coping with the situation. But now there was someone else around them who they couldn't risk finding out about the supernatural world.

* * *

Keller rubbed her head in frustration. "So let me get this straight: this wasn't just a B&B once... it was also a haunted house tourist attraction."

"Exactly" Hal said, nodding , "though fair warning, some of the old traps meant to scare the lodgers weren't disabled, so there's still a few bits left. We realize how unsafe this sounds, but rest assured they're all pretend and can't hurt anyone."

The woman looked at the smashed glass on the floor. "You're sure? That looked pretty real and dangerous to me.

"Just meant to give the tourists a good scare, nothing more. Tell her, Tom" Hal said, as he and Tom finished putting away some of the things that had been scattered mere moments before.

"We're not really used to many guests, so we never bothered disablin' all them traps" Tom said, "but we think they're pretty fun."

Hal shook his head curtly, signaling him to stop. Now she would think both of them were mad.

"We must apologize for our little house quirks interrupting our chat" Hal said, "would you like some tea before we resume our conversation."

The woman nodded. "Actually, that couldn't hurt, thank you."

Before heading into the kitchen, Hal gestured towards Alex to follow. When all three were inside the kitchen, Tom let the door close behind him.

"Alex, you're sure you're not causing any of this?" Hal asked.

"I didn't move one muscle back there."

"Then there's definitely another ghost here."

"But where'd it come from?" she asked, "and how come we've never seen it before? Ghosts don't just pop up out of the blue, do they?"

Hal felt an idea strike him. "Wait. Can ghosts haunt people?"

"Well I don't know anything about that" Alex said "I'm still really new to this whole being dead thing. Why, you think someone's haunting Keller?"

"Sounds about right to me" Tom said, "I mean Alex is basically haunting you, isn't she?"

Alex looked insulted. "Hey, I happen to have a proper reason for haunting his arse."

"Maybe her ghost does too, but she just isn't aware of it."

"So she's haunted but doesn't know it?" Hal asked.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Or she knows but isn't telling us. Y'know, kind of what we're doing right now to her? Barry is positively rife with all kind of supernatural crazies."

"Don't look like it" Tom said "she looked really scared when the lights started flickering so I doubt she's seen anything like this before."

Hal rubbed his forehead in frustration. "In any case, we need to find out where this ghost is hiding before anything else happens. And since the house has quieted down I can only assume it's either hiding or outside. Alex, you need to rent-a-ghost outside and find out what's going on."

"I'm on it." Alex closed her eyes and pictured appearing outside the house. She took a breath and felt herself begin to shift. But then things came to an abrupt halt. Alex opened her eyes and saw that she was still in the kitchen and hadn't moved an inch.

"This isn't exactly an opportune moment for a nap, Alex" Hal said.

"Oh, but it is for stupid jokes?" She paused. "I can't rent-a-ghost outside."

"Why not?" Hal asked.

"I dunno. I feel kind of like... someone's holding me in place."

"But you can teleport anywhere else in the house?" Tom asked.

Alex closed her eyes again and gave it a try. After rent-a-ghosting through several rooms, she popped back into the kitchen. "Yep. No problem inside the house, but once I try to do it outside I'm just stuck."

Hal paced the room for a bit before something clicked in his head.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked.

"I noticed something back in the living room when everything was going haywire. I thought I was seeing things, but then... one of the bottles that smashed against the front door. It didn't shatter on the door itself."

Alex and Tom just looked at each other, confused.

"What'd you mean?" Alex asked.

"Look."

Hal placed a hand against the kitchen window. Or rather, an invisible but very solid field that seemed to stretch a few inches in front of the window. He moved his hand past the window and over to the wall, but the field was endless, seemingly encasing the room, and probably the entire house. He tapped it. Rock solid.

"I think it's safe to say that someone's trapped us inside the house."


	4. Chapter 4

Hal looked at Tom and Alex as they analyzed the invisible barrier that seemed to stretch across the entire kitchen walls. He couldn't pinpoint why exactly, but something about this whole situation was making him more nervous than usual. He felt a voice in the back of his head blaming him for everything that was happening. His evil side never did let him have a moment's peace.

"Y'know, you're being awfully calm about this" Alex said, looking at him.

"I've been alive five hundred years. I've seen my share of weird happenings."

"Anything like this, though?" Tom asked.

Hal shook his head. "Alex, are you _sure _you don't have anything to do with-"

"Oh, you don't want to finish that sentence, Hal" Alex warned.

"Okay, let's just take a breather now" Tom said. "This whole day'll turn us bonkers if we don't calm down."

Alex sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I just hate it that I can't rent-a-ghost outside. You two still have all your abilities, but I feel like someone decided to just take away a part of what makes me a ghost."

"Don't you worry, we'll sort this out" Tom said, patting her shoulder.

"Well we better do it quick because we can't afford to be trapped in here for too long" Hal said, "not with that woman in the house. We can't risk her finding out anything about our world. Especially since she's with the police."

Alex shrugged. "I dunno, it doesn't matter what she'll see, does it? She ain't going anywhere right now."

"But she will eventually."

"I reckon you can go all vampire-faced in front of her and it wouldn't matter. No one will ever believe her."

"There's always someone ready to believe anything, no matter how nonsensical" Hal said.

Alex shrugged. "Then we're stuck."

The kitchen fell in silence.

"Look, we'll figure something out" Hal said "we just need to find out why the house is locked down first. And until then I suggest we try to keep all supernatural events under wraps."

"How, though?" Tom asked "Keller's gonna want to go home eventually."

"Yeah, Tom's got a point. How do you draw out a police chatting without looking suspicions?"

Hal rubbed his forehead. "I'll... think of something. You two just try and find out what's making the barrier around the house. And try to do it as fast as possible."

"What if we can't?" Tom asked.

"I think it's best if we don't think about that" Hal said. "Please just hurry."

Tom and Alex nodded, and then headed outside the kitchen. Left by himself, Hal took a look through the kitchen port-hole and prepared to go back outside. But he abruptly stopped once Alex rent-a-ghosted in front of him.

"Seriously, Alex, this isn't funny" Hal said, trying to calm his already rattled nerves.

"I dunno, I think it's a little funny. Vampires can't have heart attacks, but you sure flail around a lot when you're startled."

"You're supposed to be off with Tom. What's wrong?"

"Just wanted to make sure you'll be okay out there by yourself."

"I'll be fine."

Alex pressed her lips together. "I'm just a little worried, you know. All that stuff you told us back when you were in the chair - about you going mental and swearing and everything. Thought you'd have gone bananas by now."

"Alex, nothing is going to happen out there" Hal said "I feel in control. And if I'm ever about to go... "bananas", as you put it, you can send me right back into that bathroom and tie me up. But until then, you can trust me."

Hal cringed inwardly as he spoke, knowing that he would come across as such a hypocrite if Alex knew about his blackouts. But this was hardly the time for confessing anything.

"Alright then" Alex said, nodding "But you watch yourself, cause I won't pull any punches. Especially since getting to zap you around last time was so fun."

Hal rolled his eyes. "Yes, I recall your fondness for physical violence ever since you mentioned your desire to beat up Cutler."

"That's being Scottish for ya. You can't deny what's in the blood" Alex said, smiling widely. But Hal didn't bat an eyelid. "Really? Nothing?" She sighed. "Tom would've found that funny..."

"I appreciate your attempt at lightening the mood, but I'm fine, Alex. Really."

The ghost nodded. "Fair enough. Good luck out there." And just as she had popped into the kitchen, Alex disappeared right back, leaving Hal by himself.

He took a deep breath to steel himself, reciting in his own head that he was in control and he could finish the interrogation. It didn't matter that Keller was human, something he had once considered nothing but prey. She was a cop and that meant she had a gun. And even though weapons couldn't kill vampires, Hal remember just how much a gunshot hurt. He tried to grab onto the memory of that pain, to remind himself that he could stay calm. He could do this.

Hal walked back into the living room.

"Decided against the tea, then?" Keller asked when he sat back down.

Hal frowned. "Tea? Oh, the tea. Well, it turns out we ran out of it. Terribly sorry about that."

"It's alright. Would it be okay if we continue with the questions?"

Hal nodded.

"From what I recall, when we left off I was about to ask you if you've ever noticed anything off about your workplace."

"No, nothing out of the ordinary."

"No co-workers or customers acting strangely?"

Hal shook his head, suddenly getting a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Keller seemed like knew something she wasn't saying. But then again, so was he.

The woman pulled a series of papers from her briefcase. "Two days ago the body of one of the students attending St. Jerome's was found close to the school grounds. We also found several tracks that lead to a back alley. The one behind the Café on the Corner." She paused to look at Hal, trying to gauge his expression. "That would suggest that the victim died there, but was later dragged away. The killer tried to cover it up."

Hal swallowed, feeling his mouth going dry. He couldn't have killed anyone. There was no way. But he couldn't shake the silent chuckle that seemed to be coming from his other self. _He_ had done something during the blackouts.

"We took these photos from the alley" Keller said, pulling a series of pictures from her briefcase. Hal didn't want to look, but he couldn't help it. He took the photos from Keller. In the first one there was a student lying on the ground, his throat slit. There was a pool of blood forming around his head.

Something was wrong. At first he couldn't figure out what, but then Hal because aware of what the nagging sensation at the back of his head was. The photo had triggered something inside him that he had forgotten about.

Too late he realized his eyes had turned black. And that Keller was staring right at him, her gun at the ready.

* * *

Tom and Alex weren't having much success tracking down whoever or whatever had imprisoned them inside their home. Searching the house had proven to be a complete waste of time. If they hadn't known better, they could assume absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary.

"It's really buggin me that we can't find the ghost that made all that mess" Alex said. "It's probably hiding outside, taunting us or something."

Tom shrugged. "Maybe it's not a ghost at all."

"What'd you mean?"

"I'm thinkin' that maybe the house is alive. Like in the movies." Tom paused. "I don't much like that idea, though."

"You been watching the telly before going to bed again?"

"I couldn't help it. They have film marathons and everythin'."

Alex had to smile at that. Tom had been made aware of how dangerous the world was ever since he was a child, and yet there were still the little things that got to him. It was nice that someone in their home still retained a bit of innocence.

"Well I wouldn't worry about it" Alex said, confident. "You're an arse-kicking wolf who's got an ancient vampire and a very talented ghost for mates. Nothing could possibly defeat us right now."

"What if the house just crumbles on top of us?"

Alex paused. "... yeah, that would be a bit of a problem. C'mon, we better keep looking. Hal won't be able to stall forever."

A scream stopped both of them frozen in their tracks. A soon as they realized what had probably happened, Alex cursed under her breath, and then rent-a-ghosted into the living room. Tom sprinted down the stairs.

The living room was devoid of any presence, but a few things had obviously been disturbed. Two of the chairs by the table were toppled over, and the couch had been moved slightly.

"Where are they?" Tom asked, as soon as he had made it next to Alex.

The ghost held up her hand, suggesting she was listening for something. A few seconds later and they heard what it was. There were no more screams, but a few sounds of a struggle coming from nearby.

"Cellar" Alex said.

Both Tom and her dashed down the stairs, and came up to Hal sitting with his back on the cellar door. Behind him, they could hear someone banging and scratching at the door.

"Hal, what're you doing?" Tom asked.

"What in the hell happened?" Alex added.

Hal looked hopelessly back and forth between his friends, struggling to find the proper thing to say.


	5. Chapter 5

(I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the comments/hits/follows/faves I've received. I'm definitely grateful; many thanks! Btw, how fucking insane was last night's episode? I'll never understand why the BBC axed the show.)

* * *

Time didn't slow down in the face of an inescapable situation. If anything, it actually felt like it sped up. Hal looked helplessly from the bottom of the cellar stairs at his two friends who were regarding him with grave expressions. What worried him the most was the sight of Tom. And the stake he was holding in his hand.

"I didn't hurt her" Hal said quickly, his instincts kicking in.

"Then why did we hear screams?" Alex asked, still frowning.

"She saw me turn. But it was completely involuntary. I didn't even realize what had happened until it was too late."

"Why'd you turn?" Tom asked, griping the stake.

"I'm not sure, but I think it was the pictures." When the two looked at him confused, Hal added: "She showed me a picture with a body and there was blood everywhere. It must have awoken something inside me."

Hal thought he saw Tom's expression soften a bit in understanding, but the stake stayed where it was. Even if it wasn't clearly pointed at him, its simple presence was making Hal very nervous.

"I didn't hurt her" Hal repeated. "But she had a gun, and I had to do something. Locking her in the cellar seemed like the best course of action."

"I'll go take a look" Alex said. She glanced at Tom, basically telling him to keep an eye on Hal, and then rent-a-ghosted.

Hal felt a tense silence filling the room.

"You alright?" Tom asked suddenly.

The vampire blinked. Had Tom asked if _he _was alright?

"I'm... fine" Hal said, confused.

"It's good that you were able to control yourself" Tom said, putting the stake away. "I thought for sure somethin' bad happened. I'm proud of ya."

There was that word again. Proud. Hal swallowed the knot that had formed inside his throat, realizing that the guilt was starting to cause him to tense up.

"Keller's fine" Alex said, having popped back on the stairs, next to Tom. "I mean sorta fine, she's still spooked as hell by Hal's little display back there, but I didn't see any gun, so she must've dropped it in the living room. But we're okay cause Hal didn't hurt her."

"Okay?" Hal asked, confused. "No, we're not okay! She saw me manifest!"

"And in case you didn't notice, Barry is rife with supernatural mumbo jumbo. Eyes turning black ain't a big deal, so she'll probably just chalk up to seeing things because of stress or something."

"What about being locked in a cellar?" Tom asked.

Alex bit her lip. "That might be a problem, yeah..."

"I don't suppose either of you got any closer to finding out who is responsible for the barrier around our house?" Hal asked.

"We're still stuck like sardines" Alex said, "and that's gonna be extra hard to explain that to the cops once they show up looking for Keller."

Hal shook his head. This wasn't good. It looked like they were hitting dead ends no matter what they tried to do.

"Don't you think it's a little weird?" Tom asked suddenly "Seems like all this trouble started as soon as Keller walked through our door."

"You think she's responsible for what happened earlier in the living room?" Hal asked.

"Maybe she's haunted, and the ghost sort of got released in here" Tom said.

"Doesn't sound right to me" Alex said, shaking her head. She turned to Hal. "I remember getting that odd, ghosty feeling hours before she showed up. We both did, in the bathroom. Remember?"

"Wait, why were the both of ya in the bathroom?" Tom asked, confused.

"I helped him organize the toothbrushes" Alex said quickly. "All... three of 'em."

"Yes, I'm terribly picky with deciding where to deposit our toiletries" Hal added, suppressing an eye-roll.

A thumping sound from upstairs caused all three to direction their attention. Once the sound repeated, Alex rent-a-ghosted, leaving Tom and Hal to try and follow.

Alex easily shifted from room to room until she came to an abrupt halt in the attic. A wave of exhaustion flew over her, and she had to stop for a moment. There was another ghost present. Standing by the window in the attic was a teenager no older than seventeen. He was wearing a raincoat and was slightly shivering. He seemed to be staring out the window, lost in thought.

"Hello?" Alex called. She was surprised by how nervous her own voice sounded.

The other ghost turned around and looked at her, frowning.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked tentatively. The boy regarded her, but there was no answer. "Are you the one who made the barrier around the house?"

His expression changed a bit in recognition, but he still remained quiet.

"Listen, we can help you" Alex went on "you just have to tell us who you are and why you're here."

A series of footsteps began to sound from behind Alex, and she realized it was Tom and Hal coming up the stairs. The boy furrowed his brows even more, as if the sound of other people was somehow disrupting his spirit.

Alex looked at him, worried. "It's okay, they're with me, they're just-"

But the other ghost was gone.

"What happened?" Hal asked from behind her.

Alex kept staring at the empty space where the boy had been standing.

"I think Tom was right" she said, pensive.

"What about?" the werewolf asked.

"I saw another ghost in here. A kid. He looked a lot like a student, like ones who went missing from St. Jerome's."

"You can't be sure of that" Hal said.

"Hal, he looked pissed and confused out of his mind, and he was wearing a raincoat when he died. Sounds a lot like someone who was murdered, don't ya think?"

"Does that mean Keller is really haunted by someone?" Tom asked.

Hal rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Maybe. But it doesn't make much sense. Why her?"

"The kid probably just attached himself onto someone who he thought could solve his murder" Alex said. "That must be his unfinished business."

"So then why trap _us_ inside here?"

The ghost shrugged. "He probably can't help it. Turning into a ghost is traumatizing stuff, y'know. It can take a while before you realize how to control your powers."

"Or maybe he trapped us in here because he wants us to solve his murder" Tom chimed in.

That seemed to stop the other two for a moment.

"Wait, so in order to get that barrier down" Alex started "all we need to do is solve a murder that the police themselves weren't able to, and we're supposed to do it all from inside our locked home?" She sighed. "Wonderful. And we'll need to talk to Keller too, that'll be a barrel of laughs, I bet."

"She won't wanna talk to us at all" Tom said, shaking his head. "Not after Hal scared her like that."

Alex shrugged. "Then we change tactics."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Hal asked.

"Well, people usually spill all kinds of stuff when they're afraid, yeah? And you just so happen to be talking to someone who can be a pretty damn convincing ghost."

Hal regarded her sidelong. "That's your plan? You want to traumatize the poor woman even more?"

"Just a little bit" Alex said, showing a small space between her index finger and thumb. "C'mon, it's for a good cause. I'm just gonna give her a nudge, and then Tom can swoop in and be all good cop."

"I doubt it'll be that simple" Hal said, sighing "seeing as we aren't living in a police procedural, Alex."

"Well I think it's a great idea" Tom said.

Hal frowned at him.

"What? I never got to play good cop before."

"That's two against one. Sorry, Hal" Alex said, trying to contain her smile.

"Fine" the vampire said, "but I won't have any part in this."

"Well you're the one who scared the poor bird in the first place" Alex said, crossing her arms.

"And I'm aware of that, but I doubt she'd accept an apology from me right now."

"Then you just stay back and take a look for Keller's gun" Alex said "while me and my cop buddy here will try and work some magic." She playfully elbowed Tom.

"Yeah" Tom said, smiling "official police business to take care of, sorry Hal. No time to waste. Let's go, Alex." He elbowed her back and then headed out the door with confidence.

"You're getting him enthusiastic about the idea of interrogating someone, you know" Hal said after he was gone.

Alex sighed. "Look Hal, like it or not, we're stuck here until we figure out what's going on. And I'd rather have a little fun instead of drive myself bonkers with worrying and questions and whatever it is you do in that head of yours."

"You mean thinking ahead?"

"Oh, is that what you did when you scared Keller?"

Hal shot her a dirty look. "This is going to be yet another thing you'll forever bring up, isn't it?"

"Oh c'mon, just relax for once in your life" Alex said, heading after Tom.

"Alex, we're stuck in our home with the ghost of a potential murder victim and a policewoman in our cellar!"

"And d'you know what I'd call all this?" she asked, gesturing with her hands around the room."A very crazy, but still very fun Tuesday. All a matter of perspective, Mr. Thinks Ahead."

And just like that, she was gone. Hal listened to her footsteps following Tom's as they descended the stairs back to the main floor. And all the while he listened, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.


	6. Chapter 6

(So I noticed that in the last chapter I used the word "pissed" and realized too late that I used it with the sense of anger, not drunk, which obviously doesn't work when you're writing about a British show. I'm definitely not British, so I apologize if I tend to mix up that sort of stuff.)

* * *

They were standing at the top of the stairs leading down to the cellar, and were both taken back by how quiet the house was. If they didn't know better, Tom and Alex wouldn't have guessed that there was a potentially angry police woman beyond the cellar door.

"So what're we doing exactly?" Tom asked, looking at Alex.

The ghost rubbed her head. "I guess I go in there and start throwing things around until she admits that she knows something about all the supernatural stuff going on around here."

Tom looked uneasy. "Y'know, I'm starting to think that the lady has nothing to do with all this. I mean she seems just like a normal copper, if ya think about it."

Alex shook her head. "Nah, you were right the first time. It's just all too much of a coincidence that we got trapped the second she came here. She's probably lying her arse off."

"I dunno, she sounded pretty scared earlier."

"Up for a wager, then?" Alex asked, smiling.

"You wanna bet on whether that lady is actually traumatized? That's wouldn't be very nice of us, would it?"

"Now you're starting to sound like Hal..." Alex said, giving a sigh. "Okay, tell ya what: I scare her a _little _bit, just enough to get her shakin' in her boots, and then you can go in and be as polite as you want."

Tom nodded. "Alright. But can't we just let her out once you're done spooking her?"

"She's an angry woman who knows how to use a gun, and you wanna let her out?"

The werewolf furrowed his brows. "What, are you scared of 'er?"

"Course not" Alex said, folding her arms "but I'll bet you a fiver that the second she gets out of there she'll try and drag Hal out of here in handcuffs."

* * *

A heavy atmosphere hung over the living room, and Hal felt it hit him as soon as he walked in. It was true that their home was surrounded by a barrier of some kind, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of his head that kept telling him something else was causing the sudden mood change. The other ghost was there somewhere. He just didn't know where.

This was starting to be too much of a hassle. It was one thing to have to babysit an officer of the law, but now there was also another ghost to be on the lookout for? Hal rubbed his tired head as he stared at the clock on the wall. It was 8PM, but it definitely seemed like much later. In only the span of one day he had been tied to a chair, then thrown around by Alex's ghost powers, tied to a radiator, interrogated by the authorities, and now he was locked inside their own home.

There was a voice deep down in the folds of his mind that whispered something. That he should be angry. And he had all the reason to be.

Hal suddenly shook his head. No. Listening to that voice was never a good idea. He tried clearing his head while he went around the room and straightened out the chairs that had been toppled over. He was fine, he thought. In control. Just as he had told Alex. He could do this. Just ignore the thoughts. Hal had been able to keep his mind busy for weeks now, but ever since Keller had shown him that picture, _he_ seemed to be getting louder.

The vampire sat on the couch, clutching his head. Why had that body looked so familiar? Could he have killed someone during some of his blackouts? He was skilled enough to do it without grabbing anyone's attention, that was certain. But it didn't make any sense that he would murder someone and then just leave all the blood behind. _He _would have never passed on such an opportunity. Especially when it was only fourteen days since he had last tasted blood. But that was another dangerous thought to have bouncing in his head

Hal took a deep breath, and sat back up. He knew he was just getting antsy because he was stuck on the inside for the foreseeable future. But it was still a bit bizarre that he was feeling so claustrophobic. This was a cakewalk. This was nothing. After being trapped inside that monastery in Budapest, he knew he could stand anything. But the uncertainty of what had happened in the previous days was a constant buzzing disrupting his thoughts.

For a moment he wondered what it would be like if he told Tom and Alex about his blackouts. Would they be disappointed? Angry? Hal shook the thought from mind and went back to straightening back the living room. He couldn't afford to let them find out what had happened.

Not until he could remember himself.

* * *

The cellar almost seemed deserted when Alex rentaghosted inside. Keller was sitting by the radiator, her eyes fixated on the door. The ghost realized it was a good thing the room was devoid of any furniture, or else Tom could have walked into the pointy end of a broken chair leg.

It was odd that she looked so frightened, Alex thought. Surely someone like her had to have encountered some form of the supernatural before. She was a cop in Wales, after all.

But it looked like Tom was right. Despite her unblinking stare, Keller looked like she was shivering on the floor, and her fingers were moving erratically, picking at the skin under her nails. The woman really was scared.

Tom blinked in confusion when Alex rentaghosted back onto the steps of the cellar.

Alex sighed in frustration. "Keller can't be haunted."

"What'd you mean" Tom asked.

"You should see her, she's going bonkers in there. I mean if Hal going vampire face in front of her spooked her so bad, there's no way she could've had a ghost following her around."

* * *

When the pillows were properly aligned on the couch, Hal took a step back to analyze his handiwork. The living room was back to its original, tidy state. Now he could finally try and focus. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that the other ghost was watching him from nearby.

Hal crossed the living room and peered over into the bathroom. Nothing. He then made a beeline and pushed the door open to the kitchen. The only thing filling the air was the ticking from the clock on the wall. He took a few paces into the kitchen and glanced beyond the beaded door curtain. Still nothing. Hal sighed in irritation. This wasn't good. He was slipping into paranoia now.

When he turned around to head back into the living room, he felt his feet momentarily freeze up. Standing in front of him was the ghost Alex had described. He looked like only a boy in Hal's eyes, but the anger he let off was definite.

Hal had known plenty of ghosts before, some of them very likable, such as Mary or Annie. But this boy... Something just felt wrong about him. But this wasn't the time for judging.

"It's okay" Hal said, his voice perfectly even. "The woman you met earlier, Alex? She's just like you. She's a friend of mine and we're going to help you."

The boy blinked once, and his brow unwrinkled a moment later. Hal let out a breath, relieved that the ghost was no longer trying to hide from them. At least they were getting a little bit closer to solving one problem. If only the boy would start talking to them.

The ghost extended his left arm, and for a split second Hal thought he was offering to shake his hand. But then a cupboard shot open and a knife flew into the ghost's hand. Hal didn't even register that he had been stabbed in the stomach until his feet began to buckle.


	7. Chapter 7

(Major thanks for the comments, hits and all the other stuff! They really brighten up my day.

starkid191: Mitchell shows us that that a vampire's blood is just like ours, so luckily I didn't have to make up anything about that. For anyone blanking on that, it's when he was [SPOILER FOR S01]staked, but not in the heart and had to be taken to the hospital.[/SPOILER]

Hal bit his own hand in the latest episode and bled normally too, so there you go. Btw, the whole oxygen being what makes blood turn red thing is actually a myth. The reason our veins look blue is because of the way the light hitting our skin is reflected back to our eyes.)

* * *

He'd forgotten how much it hurt to be subjected to physical harm. When Hal regained his focus he noticed that the ghost was no longer there, and neither was the uneasy atmosphere he had felt before. The vampire carefully lifted himself off the floor and stared at the knife sticking out from his stomach.

Unfortunately the age old saying didn't apply here. When you were already dead, what failed to kill you didn't make you stronger. It just fucking hurt. Hal took a deep breath before grabbing hold of the knife. He steeled himself, and then pulled it out. The pain shooting through his body kept nudging his other self, angering him. He was Lord Hal. He had underwent a monumental pain and suffering until he had even managed to obtain that title, and now he was willing to stand for something like _this_?

Tom had once told him and babbling to himself was better than leaping, but this wasn't the case anymore. This was just plain ridiculous. And suddenly Hal felt that it didn't matter if the ghost was just a teenager. Enough was enough. The bastard was going to pay.

Hal threw the bloodied knife aside in disgust and walked out of the kitchen. And ran straight into Alex.

"Jesus Christ, doesn't anyone in this fucking house just walk like a normal person anymore?!"

Alex frowned at him. "Jeez, what's got your knickers in a twist?"

Hal just lifted his shirt slightly to expose the stabbing wound. Alex's eyes instantly shot wide open.

"Christ, what happened?"

"I ran into the other ghost" Hal said simply.

"What, _he _did this?" she asked, surprised "Are you sure?"

"No, you're right, Alex, I probably confused him with someone else who might have wandered into our home. Oh, wait, we're _locked_ in here."

"But it just doesn't make any sense. Why would he try and hurt you?"

"That's what I intend to find out."

The vampire crossed the living room and headed for the staircase, anger bubbling just under the surface.

"Hal!" Alex called after him.

"Stay out of this, Alex."

But she wouldn't. He knew she wouldn't. Hal tried to keep a strain on his nerves when Alex rentaghosted on the stairs in front of him, her arms folded.

"You're seriously considering this aren't you?" she said, her jaw set. "He's already dead, you know. You can't hurt him."

Hal took a deep breath. "Yes, I'm very much aware of that."

"Then what're you gonna do?"

A sudden thought popped into his head and Hal stretched out his hand. He pinched Alex on her arm, causing her to jerk back.

"Ow! Seriously, what's gotten into you today?"

"You felt that?"

"Yeah, you idiot, why wouldn't I feel-?" Realization dawned on Alex. "Shit. What's happening? I'm not supposed to feel anything, am I? I mean not that I'm complaining - cause I can't wait to see if I can taste that cheesecake that Tom put in the freezer the other day - but this sort of thing doesn't just happen, does it?"

"Whatever that ghost is doing, it's altering the supernatural dynamics. And if he can do that, imagine what other things he can alter."

"Good thing he didn't also make knives kill vampires then, huh?" Alex said, slightly cracking a smile. "What, too soon?"

Hal stared at her. "What happened with Keller?"

"Tom's having a chat with her right now. But I doubt she know anything about all of this since she freaked out like such a loon earlier."

"Then we'll just have to keep her in the cellar until we figure out what to do."

"Well that's what I said too, but Tom's not having any of it."

Hal looked at her, suddenly worried. "Why?"

"Cause he has this crazy idea that his best mate was strapped to a chair during these past two weeks, so Keller can't possibly suspect you of anything. Funny thing that, isn't it?"

Hal felt a knot settling in his throat, threatening to push aside the rage that had been driving him forward. But now was not the time for remorse. He still had a ghost to question. And inflict some pain on, a voice in his head whispered. Yes, that too. But he needed to get Alex off his back first.

"We should investigate the extent of this ghost's alterations of the house, so we can figure out what to do." When Alex gave him a look of confusion, he added: "Try and see if you can taste that cheesecake."

To his surprise, the ghost shook her head. "Oh no, I'm not leaving you alone, pal. Not when you're hell-bent on hurting a ghost who's just a kid."

"He's a _teenager_, Alex, who, by the way, used his powers to throw a knife into my stomach two minutes ago."

"Knives can't kill vampires, Hal."

"But they still fucking hurt, now don't they?" he said, trying to contain his rage.

Alex just glared at him. Hal challenged her stare, trying to get her to move out of his way. But she was adamant. Her Scottish stubbornness meant she wouldn't back down easily, and they both knew that. He could force her aside, of course, but that wouldn't have helped things in the long run. He needed for his friends to fully trust him again.

"Look" he said, softening his voice "I understand that you're feeling drawn to this boy because he's the first ghost you've talked to since Annie left. But it's obvious that he isn't friendly. And if we don't do something soon, he definitely will."

The last few words seemed to have struck a chord with Alex. She paused for thought, and then sighed.

"Y'know, I really hate it when you start making more sense than me" she said. "But even if you're right, there's not a lot we can do. I mean we don't even know where this bloke is. If he really is the one who put up the barrier, then he could even be outside for all we know. Maybe he can rentaghost halfway across the bloody country."

Hal placed his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her out of his way. "You can let me worry about that. All you have to do is keep an eye on Tom, just in case Keller tries something."

"Alright..." Alex said, moving aside. She didn't seem completely convinced, but Hal was glad that she was at least willing to step back for now.

"You just be careful, okay?" she said, as Hal went up the stairs, past her. "Kid's probably gonna be pretty shocked to see you still alive, so be on the lookout for him running at you with a broken chair leg."

"Yes, Alex, I'll be sure to never stray away from the caution I've held for five hundred years now."

The ghost tried to keep from smiling. "Being a smartass can also get you killed, you know."

"That explains why you're dead, then, doesn't it?" his voice echoed from the second floor.

"My fault for walking right into that one..." Alex mumbled to herself.

* * *

Tom hesitated with his hand extended in front of the cellar door. He wasn't sure why he was feeling so nervous, but it must have had something to do with the last time he had an encounter with the authorities, back when he had been arrested for beating up that vampire.

Still, now there was no point of feeling antsy. Keller had proven to be very nice and courteous. And Hal mentioned that she didn't have her gun anymore, and that had to count for something. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The woman got to her feet as soon as she saw him.

"I'm sorry my mate scared you like that" Tom said, carefully closing the door behind him, "he's usually plenty nice with strangers."

"He's not exactly normal, is he?" Keller asked, her voice kept even.

"Hal just comes across as odd sometimes."

"Does he also make a habit of changing his eyes like the push of a button?"

Tom paused to regroup his thoughts. Alex had suggested they just play the game of denial, but Keller seemed a bit too much on edge to believe it. But it was still worth a try.

"Well I dunno what you mean about that" the werewolf said "but he's been really sick lately so he's been actin' a little bit silly these days."

The woman fixed her gaze on him. "I know what I saw, Mr. McNair. He panicked when I showed him a picture of a crime scene. Now I don't know how he did that trick with his eyes, but what I'm sure of is that he has something to do with the case. That's why he attacked me and threw me in here."

Tom tried to hide his nervousness.

"Listen, you have to let me out of here" Keller said, lowering her voice "Your friend, you don't know what he's capable of. If he's really who I think he is, then your life is also in danger."

The werewolf fought to keep his emotions in control, but sudden thoughts of doubt began to creep in his mind. He shook his head. No. Hal couldn't have anything to do with any murders, and he knew it. Keller was looking for a suspect and just happened to pick Hal because he seemed weirder than anyone else. But he wasn't a killer. He had been blood-free for two weeks and couldn't have left the house.

"You know" Keller said suddenly, ripping him from his thoughts "I heard him mumble something before he closed the door on me." She paused to look at Tom. "He said 'I'm sorry' over and over. At first I thought he was talking to me, but then it got me thinking... how much do you want to bet that the apology was directed towards the victim he might've killed?"

* * *

Rentaghosting everywhere was starting to drain Alex's energy, so she decided to take Hal's advice and try walking more. She was about to head back to the cellar when a different train of thought entered her mind.

She hadn't felt any different since they were forced to stay inside, but maybe some of her senses really had come back. The simple thought almost sent Alex skipping towards the kitchen. When she reached the fridge, she threw the door open and picked up the first plate she could find. She looked at the piece of obviously overcooked chicken and tried to focus on what it could taste like. She then lifted the piece and tried to taste it. It promptly fell to the ground.

Alex sighed heavily before shoving the plate back inside the fridge. Of course she could feel the pain after a pinch, but not the taste of food. Life was just that bloody brilliant.

"Alex?"

She heard Tom calling after her, along with his footsteps coming from the cellar. He sounded worried.


	8. Chapter 8

(I've always wondered what Hal vs. a computer would be like. A more realistic scene would probably involve him trying to bargain with it or something. Anyways, how's everyone holding up after the end of the show? I'm still in a happy place called denial.)

* * *

Hal felt the restraints groan while his hands moved about as if they had a mind of their own. _We need to get out of here_, his other self whispered. _Now_. He took a deep breath and tried to will the voice away. But it was useless. He had lived with that damn voice for almost five hundred years, and simply wishing it away never accomplished anything. It was _his _fault that they were back in the chair anyway.

Fifteen days, two hours and twelve minutes without any blood, and Lord Hal was still in his head, trying to take over.

_6 hours earlier..._

Tom found Alex in the kitchen, sweeping up pieces of chicken into the dustpan.

"What happened in here?" he asked her.

"Well I can't tell you what didn't happen. I didn't magically start tasting again, and that's a real downer because I was really looking forward to that bloody cheesecake." Alex threw the chicken into the trash and then looked at Tom. "Did you finish talking to Keller?"

"Yeah, and I'm startin' to get a bad feeling about this whole missing teens business."

"Well I can't imagine anyone getting good vibes from a bunch of potentially murdered kids."

Tom rubbed the back of his head. "Keller said something about Hal. And I know he was strapped in the chair and all, but d'you think he has anythin' to do with it? Like he had some lackeys doing his dirty work for him or somethin'?"

Alex made a face. "What, are you kidding? Hal might be a bowl full of crazy, but why would he attack a bunch of kids? I mean if you were a vampire who wanted to drain someone, you don't pick a school. Hal has standards."

"No, he don't. He's killed children before, he told me."

The ghost stopped dead in her tracks. "What, are you serious?"

Tom nodded, and Alex felt her trust in Hal draining away with each nod.

"Well she's just trying to rile us up" Alex said, after a while. "Keller's getting desperate being stuck in that cellar and she's trying to make us turn on each other. Cops are good at that sort of stuff."

Alex realized that she couldn't even convince herself of that, but hoped Tom would buy it. She didn't want him worrying over anything else on top of all the craziness happening in the house. Not when there was still a sliver of a chance that Hal was innocent.

"Maybe you're right" the werewolf said "but then that just means we've got nothin' to go on."

"We do, actually" Alex said, putting the broom away. "The other ghost."

* * *

What kills a ghost? Hal twisted this question in his mind while he was searching the rooms of the first floor. Something that's already dead was tricky to get rid of, but he knew it wasn't impossible. He thought back to Annie and how she had been reduced to nothing but smoke when Tom and himself had left Honolulu Heights. A pang of guilt was gnawing at him, reminding him that Annie was one of the reasons he had a proper home. A family. And now he was stalking the corridors of his home and keeping things from his friends. He didn't deserve all the things he had.

But then there was that voice. It reminded Hal that what he was doing was out of necessity. He was surviving. A few white lies didn't matter.

Hal took a deep breath to steady himself. Living with such a duality tearing at his very core was starting to exhaust him. It worried him that he wouldn't be able to keep at it for much longer. Something would eventually snap, forcing him to pick a side. The only question was, which side?

But the answer to that would have to wait. Hal rounded the corner to the staircase where he started hearing footsteps heading his way.

"There he is" Tom told Alex who, for once, was walking alongside the werewolf and not rentaghosting everywhere.

"Did you find anything?" she asked Hal.

"Only that he doesn't seem to be upstairs."

"Then that'll give us more time for our new plan" Alex said.

"New plan?" Hal asked, frowning.

"Well, if this ghost isn't haunting Keller like we thought, then he has something to do with the house, right? So we need to start researching."

"Of course, why haven't we thought of that before" Hal said, deadpan, "Oh wait, we can't do that because we don't have access to the local library."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh ye of little faith. C'mon, follow me."

She led them back into the living room where there was a laptop resting on the table.

"Oh, I forgot we had that" Tom said, "Annie used to always check websites about this actor bloke."

"Well we're gonna use it find out this building's history" Alex said "And by 'we' I of course mean you two."

Tom and Hal looked at each other.

"Well I'm no good at researchin' and all that lot. I've always been an action man. Hal's gonna have to do it."

The vampire did a double take. "What, _me_? Oh no, no, no, technology isn't my forte. I've never even used this kind of machine before."

"Well I can't do it because I might fry something" Alex said "If I can make the lights flicker when I'm upset, who knows what I can do to a laptop. We can't risk frying the only access to information we have." She shrugged. "Sorry, Hal. But you're a bright lad, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."

"What, you're just leaving me here by myself?" Hal asked, frowning.

"Well Tom and me have to take care of phase two of our plan" Alex said, pulling Tom's elbow after her "But you'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You just type in what you want and then go from there, alright?"

And just like that, they were gone again. Hal stared at the infernal machine that seemed to be silently judging him.

"Go from _where_...?" he whispered to himself.

In all his years of living in the modern world, Hal had rarely felt that all his faith had left him for greener pastures. But now it definitely started to feel like one of those times. Why couldn't he be stuck in a library instead of in front of this bloody machine? Surely a smart man such as himself could figure out how to use something so simple-looking.

At least the keys were easy to handle. Hal felt a wave of nostalgia pass over him as he recalled using typewriters. Now those were a sublime example of artistry. And could be controlled properly, unlike these modern devices.

Hal felt his head start throbbing a few hours later. It was past midnight and they were no closer to finding out who the ghost was or why he was there. It looked like it didn't matter how excited Alex was over modern technology because some things you just couldn't find outside of a book.

Hal closed the laptop with a sigh. He was stretching his arms and glancing at the clock on the wall when the sudden ominous feeling hit him. The ghost was back.

* * *

Tom sighed deeply. "I'm just gonna come out an' say it: I think it's a bloody stupid idea."

"Well we're running out of options here, so if you've got a better one, I'm all ears."

Tom sighed again and resumed tearing at the wallpaper in the attic. He couldn't remember how Alex had managed to talk him into it but, apparently, looking for messages written on the walls from the original owners had sounded like a sane idea at the time. Now it was just mental.

"Hal's gonna have a meltdown for this" Tom said.

"But he always hated this pattern."

"Not for the wallpaper, Alex, for the mess."

Alex stopped for a moment and assessed the damage. "He's gonna blow his lid over how unsymmetrical the walls look, isn't he?" She felt herself tense up. "Well, he rarely comes up here, right? We'll be fine as long as we finish in here real fast."

"Alex, Tom, get down here!"

The two froze in place when they heard Hal call after them.

"Okay, how in the hell has he found out already?" Alex asked.

"It's not that, I think he's in trouble" Tom said, heading for the stairs.

Alex opted to rentaghost back into the living room. As soon as she appeared downstairs, she saw Hal standing in the middle of the room. And the other ghost had his eyes fixed on the vampire.

"It's okay" Alex said, looking at the boy, "we won't hurt you. We just want to know what you want."

The boy didn't even acknowledge Tom walking in from behind him. The ghost just raised an arm and pointed at Hal. "I want him dead."

"Why?" Alex asked, frowning.

"It's only fair. He's the one who killed me."

It couldn't be helped. Tom and Alex both looked towards Hal, trying to gauge his reaction. They didn't even notice when the ghost disappeared from the living room.

"Is that true?" Tom asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

Hal turned to Alex, as if searching for a friendly face to back him up. But Alex just set her jaw and glared at him.

"Answer his question."

Hal swallowed nervously. "I can't remember."

"He's one of them teens who went missing, isn't he?" Tom asked, gesturing at the space where the ghost had been. "While you were stuck in the chair. So you couldn't have done it, not unless—"

"Tom." Alex looked at the werewolf and shook her head slowly, pleading for him not to continue.

"You got out" Tom said finally, looking at Hal. "And you knew about it." He glanced at Alex.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier" the ghost said "but I didn't know that-"

"No, it's fine" the werewolf said, "it's good that it's all out in the open because now I know not to trust anyone."

"Tom-" Hal started.

"No, it's my fault, really. Thinkin' I could let me guard down, put some trust in people. Now I know better."

Tom didn't look at either of them as he headed for the staircase. He paused for a moment, his stare still seemingly miles away. "I know it's too late for that bloke who you killed, but I'm not letting anyone else in this house die. So if I hear anyone else scream and it turns out you're the reason?" He looked at Hal "I'll stake you myself."

* * *

Alex had never felt particularly tired since she had been turned into a ghost, but right then she felt exhausted. She had begrudgingly agreed to help Hal by tying him back to the chair and watching his every move. But that didn't necessarily mean that Tom would be back on speaking terms with either of them.

It looked like, for the moment at least, she was stuck with a vampire who couldn't even remember killing someone.


	9. Chapter 9

(So a little sidebar: In S5 Hal's whole struggle between good and bad was handled like a sort of split personality, where he can't remember what his other side did or said. But I'm more of a fan of the S4 approach, where he's aware of what he's doing. I like the fact that Hal always seemed to realize that he was falling down the slippery slope, but just couldn't stop. So that's why I'm sticking with the S4 style.)

* * *

Alex shuffled idly through the living room, searching for more magazines to read. The clock on the wall reminded her that it was almost dawn. Almost tomorrow. She was bored and slightly tired – though only because of the stress of being cooped up inside their home along with so many problems – and she was quickly running out of things to do.

Hal felt a similar monotony creeping up on him, but one of very different flavor. For the past four hours he had to constantly remind himself that he had wanted this. Being stuck in the chair was safer. Better for all of them in the long run. But his other self didn't agree. And even if it made him shiver to even consider, _he_ had a point.

"Where's Tom?" Hal asked suddenly, desperate to get his mind to focus on something else.

Alex sighed and sat on the couch. "The attic. He says he doesn't wanna talk to either of us. Can't say I blame 'im."

Tom was mad at them, Hal thought, but was it really understandable? Surely he couldn't have thought that he was fully trustworthy. He was a vampire, for god's sake, not even his own kind trusted him 100%. Tom was a fool for thinking any different.

"We just gotta let him cool off for a bit" Alex went on, "and then maybe he'll agree to help us sort out all this mess, because we won't be able to do it without him."

Well no, of course not. Not when she was practically invisible to human beings and he was stuck in that damned chair. Why had he even agreed to this? It was utter nonsense. The voice cheered as soon as the thought had popped in his head, and Hal realized he was too exhausted to fight it anymore.

The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. Why should he be punished for he was? It wasn't fair, or logical. What was the point of walking around, repressing exactly that which made him who he was? It was ridiculous. Idiotic. He needed to get out.

Another hour passed slowly, almost as if it teased him. He realized he was losing the battle in his own head. The thoughts swarmed now, chanting for his freedom. It was always the same never-ending dance from good to bad, and the fight never stopped. It never would. So why struggle?

Hal closed his eyes and let himself relax. This was it. He knew he couldn't go back if he _him_ win, but he was too tired to care. Fighting had never worked. Sooner or later his other self would win anyway and take everything, so why keep resisting? Hal took a deep breath and let the voice grow from a whisper to a strong force. He let the monster take over.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Hal felt free to do what he wanted. It was invigorating. But also just bothersome that he had come to this decision on a day when his body was tied to a chair. But that was a minor detail. He'd manage to get past it soon enough. Actually, scrap that. It was more than a minor detail.

He had to convince Alex to trust him again.

"It's bugging me" the ghost said, breaking the silence "Why I can't taste or feel pretty much anything, but the second you pinch me, my pain receptors start doing the Macarena." She fell in silence for a moment. "Maybe I came back all wrong."

Hal frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Maybe when I died something happened, like a glitch. Oh god, is my spirit glitched?"

"Alex" he said, sighing "I'm the one tied down and I have to tell _you _to calm down?"

"Well something just doesn't add up here."

"We're talking about the supernatural, of course there will be things that don't add up. Leave it alone."

Alex shook her head. "No, think about it. We thought the kid ghost had somehow manipulated me into feeling pain, but it turns out he's just a scared little boy you murdered. So then why are we trapped here?"

"That doesn't prove he's not responsible for the barrier."

"Wait, you admit that you killed him?"

"I told already, I don't remember what happened."

Alex pressed her lips together. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if maybe all of this is because of you. Getting trapped here because you murdered someone is starting to make sense, don't it?"

Hal took a deep breath to steady himself. All these accusations were getting too jarring for him to stand.

"Alex, I understand your frustration, but you need to stop trying to vilify me."

The ghost fell silent after his remark. She felt that something was off about him. Hal should have felt guilty, would have fallen silent after being confronted with such a situation. But he was just looking ahead, challenging her stare.

"Here's something I'm wondering" Alex said, pensive "When did you turn into Bad Hal?"

The vampire furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

"Hal would've felt shame at the very thought of killing someone. But look at you. There's no guilt left, is there?"

Hal tried keeping his stare level, but eventually broke of and he looked at the wall behind her.

"Is there?" Alex repeated, sternly.

The vampire took a deep breath. "Alright, it's true. You caught me fair and square."

"Why'd you change?"

He let out a laugh. "I was scared. Stressed. Exhausted. Take your pick. Can you believe that? Big bad, five-hundred year old, tear-your-spleen-out vampire and I was scared of what would happen once you found out the truth."

"What are you talking about? What truth?"

"That me and him are one and the same. I've spent such a long time running. Such a long time running away from who I am that I hasn't realize I've come full circle. All this time I've been pretending, suppressing who I really am, and where's that got me? Exactly where I started."

"You're wrong, Hal. You and him are nothing alike."

"And yet it took you so long to figure out that the monster had taken the driver's seat."

"But he'll come back. The real Hal will come back no matter what you do."

Hal let out a chuckle. "Both of us are just as real, Alex."

"I think you're wrong. And I'll prove it to you as soon as he comes back."

"He's long gone, Alex, why can't you understand that?"

The ghost shook her head again. "That's not true, and you know it. Just lemme talk to 'im for a few minutes and I'll show you how wrong you are."

"I don't quite like the idea of having a conversation while being stuck in this damned chair."

Hal placed emphasis on that last word, and looked at her gravely.

"I'm not lettin' you out, Hal. Not a chance."

"You forget, I managed to get out of this chair before and I can do it again. It's all a matter of time."

"Well you won't be doing it on my watch."

Hal leaned closer and lowered his voice. "You're not as strong as you think, you know."

"My ghost abilities seemed plenty good enough to throw you halfway across the living room a couple of hours ago."

"You really think a vampire who's five centuries old survived by getting pushed around by every ghost in the country?" he asked, almost amused. "The only reason you managed to tie me up in that bathroom was because _I_ let you. I thought it was the right thing to do because I felt guilty. But that was then."

"You're really good at bullshitting, you know that?"

"Believe what you will."

"You're good at trying to talk your way out of anything, I'll give ya that. But it ain't gonna work on me, pal. You're not as strong as you think. Not when you haven't had a lick of blood in weeks."

The vampire let out a bitter laugh.

"And that's funny how?"

"The first day I got out and walked the streets of Barry? I blacked out. Half the night is simply a big blur of nothing but voices and a feeling of exhilaration. And nothing leaves me feeling like that. Except blood."

Alex instinctively took a step back. "You're lying."

Hal shrugged. "Maybe. But then again, maybe not. The real question is who do you trust? Someone who feels guilt-ridden every day of his life and hides things? Or someone who has nothing to lose?" He leaned in, as if to whisper a great secret. "Here's a little tip for you: I see no point in hiding."

"If you're not hiding, then answer me this: did _you_ kill all those missing kids, or did Good Hal do it?"

Hal settled himself back into the chair. "I already told you, I don't very much appreciate answering questions while I'm being held in a chair."

"You know I can't just let you out" Alex said.

"Then I'm afraid we've reached an impasse."

Alex set her jaw as she glanced at the vampire. She could take him. But the grain of doubt Hal had planted in her head was beginning to blossom. What if he really was much stronger than he let on? Had he really fed without her knowledge?

She wanted to talk to Tom about it before reaching a decision, but he had shut the door firmly on that opportunity. It was just her and she'd have to live with the consequences. She looked at the vampire who until recently she considered a good friend. Alex wanted to ask if what had happened, what had triggered the change, but she guessed it really must have been out of desperation. And no matter what he said now, she couldn't trust him. Not until Good Hal would be back in the driver's seat.


	10. Chapter 10

She just couldn't let herself release him again. Not until she could manage to get the old Hal back. Somehow.

Alex walked out of the living room without a word. It was risky leaving Hal by himself again, but she had taken a few precautions. There were extra straps tying him down and the buckles were placed in less accessible places. Even if there was still the possibility that he could get out, at least it would take him a while. And there wasn't much he could once he was free. Hal couldn't exactly leave the house and go on a rampage when that barrier was still up.

She wondered if Tom would agree to talk to her now that it had been several hours since he'd stormed off. Tom wasn't the type to hold a grudge. He was too nice a guy for that. And yet. Hal and her had managed to wound him where it hurt him the most. Trust. Alex just hoped she hadn't hurt him enough for him to refuse an apology.

When she found the attic empty, Alex went back down the stairs towards Tom's room. But she stopped at the top of the staircase when she heard footsteps. It was the other ghost again and he seemed to be running away from her. He had to be scared out of his mind after seeing Hal still alive and breathing after he had been stabbed. She made a mental note of finding out where he was hiding. All she had to do was get him to calm down enough for him to take down the barrier. Provided that he was even aware of what he was doing.

Alex descended the stairs and then stopped before Tom's door to listen. She couldn't hear much, which eased her nerves. That meant Tom hadn't felt the need to vent his frustration out on the furniture or his belongings. But the silence was a bit disconcerting and Alex just couldn't make up her mind if she should venture inside or not.

The ghost took a step forward before she could change her mind. And she knocked on the door. "Tom?"

When there was no reply, she decided to walk inside. The werewolf was sitting on his bed, facing the window and seemed deep in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, Alex decided to stand by the door and wait patiently.

It was stupid to ask if he was alright when he clearly wasn't, so Alex let Tom speak first. She leaned on the open door and waited. Tom's head was hanging low and his shoulders were slouched. He didn't even want to look up.

"I really thought it wouldn't happen anymore" Tom said, breaking the silence "all the lying an' the secrets an' stuff. When I found out that McNair kept the secret about me parents all that time I swore to meself never to let those things upset me again." He moved his head ever so slightly in her direction. "It didn't really work, though, did it?"

"I'm really sorry, Tom" Alex said, her voice almost a whisper.

"It's not really your fault. You just got roped in'a all this mess."

"For what it's worth, I think Hal's really sorry too. I mean he asked me to tie him up in the chair again. That has to count for something."

The werewolf shook his head. "He killed someone, Alex. The whole chair business is a little too late."

She had to agree he had a point. Alex rubbed her tired head and took a seat on the bed next to Tom.

"Well the sun's almost up" she said "and we still got a cop stuck in our cellar. Who I doubt we can afford to feed for however long she's gonna be in there. I mean how long is it till Tony realizes you and Hal are missing from the caff? "

The bedroom became quiet as the question floated around them.

"I think we should tell 'er" Tom said suddenly.

Alex frowned. "About the fact that this place really wasn't once a tourist attraction?"

"No, tell her about what's going on. That all of this is because of some ghost in our house and that Hal's really a vampire and I'm really a werewolf. And we can tell 'er about you too I guess but I don't think she'll believe us."

"Maybe we should start off small. Like, say, tell her why your best mate is down there tied to a chair."

Tom shook his head. "He's not me best mate anymore."

Alex paused at that. She knew it was pretty daft to even ask the question on her mind, but she needed to know. "Tom, how come you're not mad at me too?"

"You were just tryin' to spare me feelings by coverin' for 'im, that's all. Your heart was in the right place."

"I know it doesn't exactly make him a saint, but Hal was only doing what he thought was right. I mean even now I'm sure he's down there trying to fight his other self from taking over. And I know that sounds like all kinds of crazy, but he really is trying."

"That don't mean it was right of 'im to lie like that."

"I know, but we'll have plenty of time to figure out how to tax him for that once we sort this whole mess."

Tom considered her words, but still looked unsure.

"I'm sure Hal has a proper reason for killing that kid, but we won't be able to find out what it is unless we all work together to bring back Good Hal."

"You're right. We can settle all we have to once we get 'im back."

"There's only one problem... how exactly are we supposed to do that?"

Tom thought for a moment. "When he was on the blood before he was kinda shocked into turnin' back. He said that Cutler talkin' about his plan and showing 'im your dead body made 'im realize he was going down a bad road."

"So all we need to do is shock him?"

Tom shrugged. "I s'ppose that'd do it. But shock him how?"

"I dunno, mess up his room?" Alex offered, a little too eager.

"No, I think it's gotta be something bigger than that."

"Well we could hug him, but I don't see any scenario where it wouldn't end in violence or tears."

"So what'll we do, then?"

They spent a few moments to think about it. Suddenly, Alex snapped her fingers. "I've got it."

"What?"

"Hal said that Keller's photo is what made him change, right? What if among them there's a photo of the boy he killed? That'd be really shocking to see."

"You sure that'd be enough, though?" Tom asked.

Alex shrugged. "It's worth a try."

* * *

Hal needed to vent.

If Alex hadn't butted in and caused him to momentarily get distracted by guilt, he would have already ripped the other ghost to pieces. It was just a waste of time trying to go about it peacefully and just hope he'd take down the barrier. No, killing him would mean that the barrier would cease to exist. It was just that simple.

Of course there was another matter to attend to first. Thanks to the new straps that held him in the chair, going about it like he had in the past wouldn't get him anywhere. The buckles were underneath his arms and well out of reach, and his teeth weren't nearly sharp enough to cut through the restraints. Hal felt an urge to shout obscenities, but drawing attention to himself wasn't the way to go about this.

There was really only one thing he could try. He attempted to wiggle himself out. Could it really be that easy? He had lost a few pounds ever since he had been strapped in the chair and started refusing to eat the mashed up bananas that Tom called supper. Maybe that was enough.

He began to move his right hand, trying to free his wrist.

"You're not a ghost, are you?" a voice said from his right. Hal stopped his struggle and angled his head to get a better look of the boy who was standing close to the staircase.

"You can't be human" the ghost went on "I know that for sure. No one who gets stabbed can just shake it off like you did. So what are you?"

Hal tried to suppress the smile that was threatening to take over. This was just too easy. All he had to do was egg him on until the boy would either freak out or delude himself into thinking he could beat Hal and make a wrong move. He could even get the boy to untie him if he played his cards right.

"Trust me" Hal said "you really don't want to know the answer to that question."

The ghost shrugged. "Maybe I do. You killed me, so I think the least I deserve is to know who my murderer is."

"This world isn't for someone like you, boy. If you're smart, you'll just turn around and walk away."

The ghost looked at Hal's restraints. "Your mates don't seem to like you much. Looks more like they're scared of you or something."

"Then I suggest you follow their example."

But he wouldn't, and Hal knew that. Teenagers always had big egos and the ghost was no different. The ghost wouldn't back down from a challenge, even if he had no chance of winning it.

"I think it's pretty weird how you didn't die after I stabbed you" the ghost said "I mean you don't even look affected by it. What's that about?"

"Last warning. You really don't want to play that game with me" Hal said.

"Why, what're you gonna do? You're tied up in that chair while I'm here nice and free. Oh, and I have this."

The ghost was holding the blood-stained knife that he had left back in the kitchen. The kid was getting overconfident now, Hal noted, and was taking small steps in his direction. Hal let out an involuntary laugh as soon as he saw the knife.

"What's so funny?" the boy asked, stopping his advance.

"You really have no clue what you're doing, do you?" Hal said, letting out a chuckle. "Here's a tip, boy: you don't go about pocking the beehive unless you know what's going to happen next."

The ghost looked down at the knife and then back at Hal. He then let it fall on the carpet.

"Then I guess this'll be more effective?" the boy asked, pulling a stake from his pocket. Hal's smile instantly disappeared. "I found this in the kitchen, under some towels" the ghost said, "and by your face I'd venture to say you're not the type to dabble in woodworking, are you?"

Hal struggled to keep his composure as the ghost began walking towards him with the stake in hand. Damn Tom and his habit of keeping stakes hidden everywhere in the house. Now he was only a few feet away from being reduced to a pile of ash. And by who? A snotty-nosed looking brat who probably hadn't ever been in one fight in his entire life.

Was this really how his long life would end? At the hand of a child? A nobody? No, this wasn't right.


	11. Chapter 11

(Well, here's the last chapter for this little story; I hope you guys will find it to you liking, or at least average-ish. And many thanks once again for all the hits/faves/comments, they are always appreciated!)

* * *

Things were moving much slower than reality in Hal's head. The boy in front of him had turned into nothing but a gray blur, but the stake in his hand was clearly outlined. And, suddenly, Hal realized just how tired he was. Not physically, but mentally. He over five hundred years now, much too long for someone to be alive. But the stake he was now seeing didn't overcome him with fear. Quite the opposite, actually. He saw it as an end. An end from the constant battle between who he was and who he should be.

It was an end, but not a glorious one. If he had chosen to die ages ago during the battle of Orsha, he could have died content that his death wasn't meaningless. He had fought for something. But now, to die like this?

There was no honor in it.

He could yell out for help. It was easy, just call for Alex and she could appear in the blink of an eye to stop it all. But would she really come? The boy had a point, everyone was scared of him now and definitely not in the mood for favors. Hal had managed to cross everyone around him, even someone who had once called him his 'best mate'. He could pinpoint exactly why he was feeling this sudden clarity, but one thing was for sure: it was too late. Much too late to redeem himself to Tom and Alex. To the world. It was too late to redeem himself for all the horrific things he had ever done. All the people he'd killed. But he had a way out from all the guilt.

All he had to do was let the ghost have his revenge.

Hal closed his eyes and silenced any thoughts that told him that this was the easy way out. Maybe he didn't deserve it, but the world he had bathed in blood certainly did.

He could hear the ghost's footsteps getting closer and closer. But something wasn't right. There were too many footsteps closing in, not just the boy's. Hal opened his eyes only to see the stake flying a few feet away from him and ricocheting off the wall. He noticed Alex and Tom were standing by the bar.

The boy ghost looked angry. "Look, this is between me and him and I intend to-"

"Kill him back?" Alex asked, "And then what, that magically makes it all better? We'll end up without our friend and you'll just end up with a death on your hands."

Hal couldn't believe his ears. Alex was _defending _him now?

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm still dead, does it?" the boy said, as he started pacing the room.

"We're sorry about that, we really are" Tom said "but she's right, ya know. Endin' someone's life isn't somethin' ya can just shake off like that. It stays with ya."

"I need to do this" the boy said.

"You kill him and your life'll never be the same again" Tom said "iI wouldn't be fair to either of ya."

"Oh god, just shut up about that" the ghost said, shaking his head "I've done it all before!"

Hal froze for a moment. He then felt a sense of relief quickly silencing all his intrusive thoughts. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. He almost wanted to roll his eyes.

"Please tell me" he started "that you weren't the one who murdered all those students."

The boy, obviously kicking himself mentally for his earlier outburst, remained silent. He studied Alex and Tom, calculating their every move.

"Wait, you're kidding me" Alex said "all this time I thought we were being haunted by a scared little boy, but _you're _the murderer?"

"I didn't-" the ghost started, inching his way back, "you can't—I didn't mean what I said, I'm just tired and rambling."

"His face kinda says it all, don't it, Alex?" Tom asked.

"I'm surprised his ears haven't been burning his face right off, if I'm honest" Alex said.

"Not that I can't appreciate a good pilling on" Hal said "but can we please do it another time when I'm not tied to a chair?"

The moment Tom and Alex made a move to walk towards Hal, the boy rentaghosted away.

"Alex!" Hal yelled.

"I'm on it!" she said, and then disappeared a second later.

Hal breathed in relief, hoping that once Alex caught up with the boy, they'd be able to lower the barrier and sort out this whole mess. But with only Tom left in the room, he realized that there was a chilly mood settled between them.

"I'd appreciated it if you could let me go now" the vampire said. "We should go help Alex."

"Which one am I talking to? Good Hal or Bad Hal?"

"If I told you either, would you believe me?"

Tom thought it over for a moment as he searched Hal's face. The werewolf then shook his head.

"In any case, I... owe you my thanks" Hal said, tentatively. "The boy would have probably taken hours before hitting the heart, but he would've done it eventually."

"Why'd you do it, Hal?" Tom asked, his voice soft. "Why'd you sneak off like that and not tell us you were in trouble? We coulda helped you."

"I don't think this is the best time for that talk."

"I dunno, I'd say it's the perfect time for it. You're here and I'm here, what more would ya need?"

"Timing. We shouldn't let Alex deal with that ghost by herself."

But Tom made no move to untie him, or even take his eyes off him. Hal wondered if by betraying Tom's trust, he had permanently shut the door on their friendship.

"For what it's worth" Hal started "I'm sorry."

"What I don't get is why you killed that bloke but didn't drink 'im. You were Bad Hal when you started sneakin' out of the house, weren't ya?"

Hal shrugged. "I'm not sure. Sometimes the line between him and I tends to blur. I can't make sense of it."

"Maybe you managed to take control of 'im, and that's why ya blacked out."

It sounded like a reasonable answer. Almost too reasonable. Hal knew nothing about his condition was simple, but maybe just this once he could leave it alone and not overanalyze it.

He just hoped that Tom would eventually forgive him for breaching his trust.

"C'mon, let's go see where Alex and that ghost are" Tom said. And to Hal's surprise, the werewolf leaning over to unfasten the restraints.

* * *

The house was proving to be a little bit too big of a playground, Alex realized. After rentaghosting everywhere after the other ghost, she was left tired and annoyed by the chase. She had forgotten how much energy it took to keep up with someone like her little brothers.

When Alex rounded the corner onto the first floor, she saw the boy running into Hal's room. She went after him.

But he was gone in the blink of an eye. Two floors, an attic and a cellar. There were just too many places for him to hide. Alex sensed a shift in the air and ran towards Hal's room. The boy was there and looked to be holding two stakes. But he disappeared again, just as quickly. Alex sighed and made a mental note to talk to Tom about his habit of hiding piles of stakes everywhere in the house.

On a simple hunch, Alex gathered her last ounces of energy and rentaghosted into the kitchen. Bingo. The other ghost was there, looking just as tired as her.

"Oi, lemme make this as clear" she told him"_I'm _the only ghost around here who gets to pull tricks and disappear all over the place and threatened my friends and make bloody barriers around the house, not you, got it?"

"This isn't about you" the other ghost said. Alex could tell he felt cornered as he held the stakes in front of him defensively.

"When someone gets all murderous over a mate of mine it kinda does make it about me too" she said "now put those down before you hurt someone."

"You don't get it, I have to do this" he said "I've been stuck as a ghost for weeks now! Weeks! This isn't normal, I know it's not. I have to pass over, but I can't do that unless I kill him."

Alex realized he was gesturing at Hal, who had just entered the kitchen along with Tom.

"Look, you just need to calm down a drop" Alex said, keeping her voice even "your unfinished business can be anything. Anything like visiting a relative or eating a piece of pie or something. So let's not get murderous."

"She's right" Tom said from behind her, "you can try all kinds of stuff before you resort to killin'."

The boy shook his head adamantly. "But I've been here for two weeks and I've tried almost everything. I _have_ to do this. I can feel it."

"But what if you're wrong?" Alex asked.

The boy looked at her, seemingly considering her words. And in a last desperate attempt, he used his ghost abilities to throw the stakes at Alex. They easily past through her. And flew right into Hal's chest.

The vampire froze for a moment, unable to process the fact that he had two stakes digging into his ribs. But what surprised them even more was that a door materialized a few feet away from them.

The boy stared at the door, looking both scared and oddly fascinated. He seemed drawn to it. The ghost mechanically walked in front of the door as if it was against his own will. He grabbed hold of the handle and pulled the door open. And a blinding light spilled into the kitchen.

The trio could feel the various energies in the house shift, causing them to feel as if they were standing in a draft, but if it was because of the door or the ghost himself, they couldn't tell. As soon as it was over, Alex ambled over to Hal to asses the damage.

"Christ, we need to get him to a hospital" she told Tom.

The vampire shook his head. "I'll be fine, Alex."

"Sure, the stakes poking out of ya chest are only there as a fashion statement."

"Trust me" he said, "the Old Ones wouldn't be quite so old if they didn't have ways to survive things like this."

"You sure?" Tom asked. "It's pretty hard to take you seriously when you got them stake pokin' outta ya like that."

"Yes, I'm sure. This isn't the first time something like this happened to me."

Alex just looked at him bewildered.

"Back in the 1940's there was this angry band who found about vampires, but they weren't familiar with the concept of hitting the heart, so-"

"Might wanna put that story on the back burner" Tom asked, "There's still one more thing we need to sort out first."

Alex looked around her. "Yeah, where is the little brat?" she asked, searching the room "Wait, he didn't go through the door, did he?"

"He's gone" Hal said simply.

"How's he gone? He killed those students, didn't he? It's not fair for him to pass over."

"I don't think the men with sticks and rope worry about the fairness of the world, Alex. His unfinished business must have been taking his revenge out on whoever killed him." Hal glanced down at his chest "And that's what he did. Or, that's what he thought he did."

"How was able to do this, though?" Alex asked. "I've been a ghost longer than he has, and I can't make bloody barriers or cause other people to feel pain."

"Rage can manifest itself in many different ways." Hal said. "And now that he's gone, we should be alright."

"Does that mean we aren't locked in here anymore?" Tom asked.

Alex went over to the window slowly and crossed her fingers that Tom was right. She took a deep breath. And she pulled the window open with ease. The barrier was gone.

* * *

"I still think it's a bad idea" Hal said, who was on the sofa now, still very much feeling the aftermath of his injuries.

"Well we can't just keep her in the cellar forever" Tom said.

Hal paused and cocked his head to the side.

"We're not keeping her locked, Hal" Alex said, rolling her eyes.

"Well it's either that or we fess up and risk her filing a report on us. And that will get sacked for sure. And I'll probably end up having to take a trip to the police station for 'attacking' her."

Alex thought for a moment. "Well I think I'm starting to see your point about keeping her in the cellar."

"No, we're not doin' anythin' of the sort" Tom stepped in. "It's not fair to 'er and it's not fair to us either. Now Hal, you walk in there and apologize."

"You think an apology will fix anything? Tom, she's been in that cellar all night."

"And McNair taught me that you need to be kind and polite to the ladies no matter what situation you're in. Now off you go." He looked at Hal expectantly.

Hal challenges his stare. "Tom, I was staked mere minutes ago."

"But not in the heart."

"It still counts!"

"Alex?" Tom asked, looking at her as if she was the tie-breaker.

She shrugged at Hal. "It's up to you however long you want to drag this on."

"Can we please remind ourselves that I am in actual pain here?"

"What about all that talk about the Old Ones being tough and mighty?" Alex asked.

"Fine" he said, and got off the sofa "Fine, I will go apologize and then prepare myself for the messy aftermath, if that's what you two want."

The vampire turned around and ambled towards the cellar. Alex took another glance at Tom before she felt her guilt win over, and she went after Hal to help him walk.

* * *

"This isn't really fair, y'know" Alex said, "I can't even feel the sand beneath my feet."

"Well you were the one who suggested we celebrate getting out of the house with a trip to the beach" Tom said, who was enjoying the sun.

"Maybe I didn't exactly think it through. Besides, with you two getting sacked, there's really not much to celebrate, is there?"

"Agreed" Hal said, nodding. He was doing his best to shield himself from the sun, but the pair of sunglasses wasn't doing much. "I suggest we go back to the house and start disinfecting everything that other ghost has ever touched."

"Well the barrier pretty much engulfed the whole house" Alex said "so that'd mean you need to clean every room."

"Exactly."

"Sounds more like a celebration fit for you, than the rest of us" Tom said.

Alex shook her head while smiling. "Do you have any idea how long that'll take you, Hal? If you think you can finish in a day, you're bonkers."

"Well I never was one to back down from a challenge" Hal said, pensively.

"What?" Alex said, frowning "No, that wasn't a challenge, I didn't-"

"I'll need plenty of window cleaner too because last I looked you two haven't exactly been up to-date with our purchase list."

Alex fell silent, deciding that letting Hal be in his little world couldn't cause too much harm.

"Look at him" Tom said "Yesterday he was sacked and almost staked an' now he's runnin' around all happy at the thought of spending the next twelve hours with bottles of window cleaner an' marigolds."

Alex smiled. "Sometimes I forget that that's what normality looks like for us."


End file.
